Wireless networks often have lower throughput than their wired counterparts due to a relatively noisy network medium. Digital radio networks typically need extensive preambles to set up a receiver. This effect is especially pronounced in OFDM networks because each subcarrier on the channel needs individual setup. The unfortunate side-effect of preamble transmission is that it requires time. This overhead can potentially dramatically reduce the time available on the medium for transmitting user data.
One of the ways to improve the speed of a packet-based network is to transmit larger packets. Larger packets are able to “amortize” the overhead over larger numbers of data bits, and are thus more efficient. 802.11n makes extensive use of aggregation to improve transmission efficiency. However, the standard does not specify when frames will be aggregated, or how large they should be.
These are but a subset of the problems and issues associated with wireless access point authentication, and are intended to characterize weaknesses in the prior art by way of example. The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.